MAMA'S BOYZ follows the lives of the Porters, an African-American family living in a large city. Pauline is a widow who divides her time between raising her two teenaged sons, Tyrell and Yusuf, and running the family bookstore (Porter's Books). Other characters include Pauline's brother Greg and their parents.

I'll let Mom introduce the family herself.

"Hi, my name is Pauline Porter, a.k.a Ma or Mom, depending on which one of my sons is calling me. After my husband, Virgil, passed away from diabetes, I was left with the seemingly insurmountable task of raising our two sons alone. But with the help of my parents and my younger brother Gregory, I think they've turned out pretty well. But due to Virgil's illness, I tend to be very cautious of what my family eats. Which is tough to do since both sons think they're already grown and my parents think they're too old to change their diets now.

When we're not all butting heads, I run Porter's Books-- our family's bookstore. The boys pitch in when then can, which is usually when I make them! But fortunately, I also have a young lady named Keisha, who helps me out tremendously."

 

He's intelligent, very nice and wants to be a writer when he gets out of school. In the meantime, I just wish he'd try to be a little more independent and maybe even get himself a girlfriend. One that will stick around for more than a week for a change."

"This is my youngest son, Yusuf, he's got more sneakers than friends, and he's VERY popular! And if there's ever some new and interesting fashion out there, chances are he'll wear it. He's only 16 years old, but he's already taller than his older brother Tyrell. He's also a lot more popular and a much better athlete. Plus the girls just seem to love him to death! All of which I know drive Tyrell crazy! But, despite all of their differences, they still seem to get along pretty well. Yusuf is also more mischievous than his brother which means that I have to watch him a little more closely."

"This is my bachelor baby brother, Gregory Tisdale. The kids call him "Uncle Greggo." He's 32 years old going on 16, so he relates to them very well. He and the boys seem to like a lot of the same things, like music, movies, video games ... the only thing is that when they are all together, I feel like I've got three teenagers to look after. On the other hand, he has his very own computer graphics and consulting company, so I guess he can act like a grownup when it counts."

"This is my Dad, mostly referred to as 'Gran'Pa.' He and my Mom, who you almost never see because she's always so busy, live upstairs. They've been married for 47 years! Dad is a retired chef, used to be one of the best in all of Harlem, back in the day. Although his meals are delicious, he hasn't quite gotten the hang of today's lighter, healthier meals. It's all about taste for him, so his pound cake is still made with a 'pound' of sugar, a 'pound' of eggs, and a 'pound' of butter.

He also loves his music, and has a great collection of old jazz records. For those of you who actually remember what a record is. Dad still hasn't gotten the hang of CDs.

"And this is Keisha, the young lady that I mentioned before. She works with me at the bookstore when she's not in school. She's very mature, and very bright! In fact, in some ways she's like the daughter I never had. like Tyrell, she's also 18 years old. In fact, they used to date. But that only lasted about two weeks. Now they're the best of friends! Even though I think that Tyrell would give his right arm to go out with her again."